


Training

by Lwoorl



Series: DC Shifters AU [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Sibling Bonding, Transformation, shifters au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 08:33:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16719945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lwoorl/pseuds/Lwoorl
Summary: Jason asks Dick to help him training on being a shifter.Shifters AU: See notes of the series for more information, but all you need to know about this au is that some people can turn into objects and they're called shifters.





	Training

**Author's Note:**

> Guys. I'm really loving this au so much. You can expect more of it in the future.

Contrary to what some people might tell you, Dick Grayson can cook. He couldn't really be able to live alone otherwise.

He might not be on Alfred's level, sure, but give him some ingredients, a kitchen, and he can throw a decent meal. It might not be a five stars meal, but a decent meal nonetheless.

But some days. Some days he gets home four hours later than usual because something happens at work, and then he can't eat anything before he has to go out and stop some arm dealers guys that are going to meet in twenty minutes.

And then he's coming back to his apartment after patrol, and it's been raining all night so he's cold and soaked to the bone, and all he's eaten today is a bowl of soup, a chicken sandwich and a bag of chips.

And then he thinks about what's inside his fridge, and knows there aren't leftovers from yesterday's dinner because he ate that for breakfast, and the mere thought of using the stove, even if just to make some instant noodles, makes his head hurt. And he just wants to take a bath with scalding water, to put something, whatever, inside his stomach, and then spend some hours watching some stupid show on TV until he falls asleep, because it's Friday night and it's been a _long_ week, and he's planning on waking up at sunset anyway.

So he doesn't cook, and instead just takes one bowl of cereal, maybe two, eats it dry because he ran out of milk, then drinks half a bottle of water and makes a cup of tea on the teapot Alfred gave him.

And then he's sitting on his couch channel zapping until he passes out.

So don't be fooled, Dick Grayson can cook. It's just that this kind of days have become way too common lately and he's forgetting what it feels like passing an entire week without ordering takeout or eating some cheap, quick, premade thing. But he can cook.

A sound outside his apartment wakes him up around eight am. He keeps his eyes closed and listens closely, someone's climbing the outside wall. They aren't trying to be silent, and given the way they're moving, the time between each sound, the force they put on their movements, Dick could bet it's someone small, but trained.

He relaxes. He has an idea of who it might be, but he waits until he hears a knock against his window and the kid exclaiming “Nightwing, let me in, don't make me break your window!” to open his eyes and stretch as if he just now woke up.

“Hey little wing, what brings you here? Sun's already up, you know?” He says as he opens the window for Jason, no, _Robin_ to climb inside.

“Train me to do stuff alone as a shifter.” The kid wastes no time in asking as he takes off his cape, the mask, and makes himself at home, sitting cross-legged on the armchair.

“Sure.” Dick shrugs.

“Come on Di-! Wait did you just say yes?”

Dick has to chuckle at the look of disbelief on Jason's face, which earns him a frown from the kid. He messes with Jay's hair as he walks towards the kitchen and opens the pantry, he's hungry again, and _almost_ sure he had some granola bars in there.

“Sure, I'm free today, why not?” He answers as he finally finds what he was looking for. He opens a bar, it has chocolate chips, his favorite, and starts munching. Absently he wonders if he should offer one to Jason. Honestly he doesn't want to, he has few left and he doesn't feel like buying groceries just yet…. Maybe he could offer him one of the raisin ones, those are his least favorites. He starts looking for one with raisins.

“Because you're a jerk!” He hears Jason reply.

“Mmhm.” Damn, he can't find one with raisins. He supposes he can sacrifice the lemon flavored one.

He can't really defend himself, he _was_ a jerk to Jason when the kid first joined Bruce. Honestly, he's still angry at Bruce about that. But he thought about the whole thing and decided it wasn't Jason's fault. He's been trying to be a better older brother since then, but Dick's dick phase stuck in the kid's mind. Honestly, he can't blame him.

Oh, there it is, the lemon flavored one.

“I'm ok with training you on the shifter stuff, but why me?” Dick says as he hands him (more like throws at him) the bar. The kid spends five seconds looking at it before ripping open the package, he sniffs it once and then finally bites. “I know Bruce isn't a shifter, but he's surprisingly good at knowing how to train someone on stuff he himself can't do. And you could ask Alfred if you want someone with personal experience.”

“Bwuse igs been an igiot!”

“I can't understand you if you eat while speaking.”

The kid stops chewing as he sends Dick a deadpan look, then Jason stuffs the whole bar inside his mouth and eats it in one single bite, just to make a point.

Dick's half worried he's gonna choke, but at the end Jason just hits his chest once and huffs.

He opens the fridge and handles the kid a bottle of water anyway, just in case. Jason takes a sip from it before handling it back.

“So what were you saying about Bruce being an idiot?” Dick asks before drinking from the water and leaving it on the table.

“He's acting like an idiot!” Jason exclaims, throwing his arms up and standing up from his seat. “He won't use me! At all!”

“Hm, yeah, that sounds like him.” Dick yawns. The outraged look Jason sends him makes him smile a little. “Listen, Bruce's never liked using people that way.”

Jason snorts. “Yeah. Sure.”

“Hey, I mean it. He will manipulate people if he _has_ to, but he doesn't like it. And he isn't the kind of person to endanger someone else without a good reason.” The kid crosses his arms and pouts. It's adorable. “He won't admit it, but I think it freaks him out having so much control over someone who can't move or speak. Did you know he finished a functional prototype for the modified com system the same _week_ he learned I'm a grapnel? Even working on making sure the Robin uniform could shift took around three or four months.”

“But he still used you!” Jason argues, sitting back on the chair with a loud plop sound. “What's the point to have all these stuff made so I can change if I'm not allowed to?!”

“I'm sure he will use you for something eventually.” Dick says as he goes to stand next to the Kid. “It's not like he used me _constantly_ , you know? And it was usually for non risky stuff. I'm not a weapon, he was never throwing me at the bad guys. You can't really expect he's going to go around waving you towards Killer Croc just because you're sharp.”

Jason frowns and bites his cheek. He looks like he wants to say something so Dick waits. Finally the kid deinflates and sighs, letting his head fall, resting against the back of the chair.

“It's not fair! He isn't a shifter so he doesn't get it, but. I'm a sword, right? I'm supposed to be used as one! You know, destiny and propose and stuff?”

“Ok, first of all.” Dick says, raising fingers as he counts. “You're a Rapier, be more specific, saying you're just a sword is like saying I'm a hook-like object. Respect yourself.” That gets him an eye roll from Jason “Second. You're just spouting army propaganda now.” That gets him a scoff “And third, if you want so badly for Bruce to use you then why are you asking me to teach you to do stuff alone?” That gets him a frown.

“I mean, if he isn't gonna let me help him at least I could learn to do stuff alone. Like, if he isn't gonna use me I'm just going to use myself.” The kid's sulking now. Great.

Dick sighs and passes a hand through his hair. Whatever, he isn't going to solve all of the kid's complexes, it's not his job, Bruce can deal with it.

“Alright. So, shifting lessons. Take off your shoes and belt. Gloves too. I won't ask you to take off the best but the less clothes the better. Sit on the ground.”

“Wait, are we starting, like, now? Now-now?” Even though Jason seems surprised he still follows Dick's instructions and takes off his shoes, belt and gloves. “Shouldn't we at least go to the roof? Your place is _tiny_ ”

Dick shakes his head. “We don't need much space. We're just gonna go over basic stuff today.” Jason nods and sits down as instructed, looking intently at Dick, almost vibrating on his seat.

“Keep in mind you probably aren't going to be able to build an entire fighting style over this.” He says. Jason seems unconvinced, but doesn't argue. “Shifting is very useful, and if you know how to use it, it can help you do all kind of stuff. Surveyance and evading maneuvers is what most comes to mind, but it can be applied to more than that.” He sits in front of the kid, mirroring his cross legged position. “But at the end of the day it's just a bonus tool, and using it for doing things alone is always going to be harder than if someone else uses you, so don't think of it as a superpower. It's a neat trick at best.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.” Jason exclaims, rolling his eyes, obviously not really listening to what Dick's saying. “Can we start training now? Pleaseeee?”

“Sure, sure. Ok, so.” Dick says, leaning back, supporting himself on his arms. “First you need to learn to change in and out as quickly as possible. Try changing into an object and then human as fast as you possibly can. Starting now.”

Jason nods and closes his eyes. It takes him around eight seconds to lose human shape, and Dick notices his hands twitch right before he turns into light. It takes him other whole forteen seconds for the light to take the shape of the Rapier, but once that's done it only takes eleven seconds total for him to become light and then human again, seven of which he spends as the object. When he's back to a person he has both fists closed.

“You got a good time for a beginner.” Dick compliments him, but the kid doesn't look impressed.

“Oh, yeah, so, how fast can you do it?” Jason resorts harshly. Dick blinks, he didn't sound sarcastic, did he?

“Jason, I just complimented you.”

“Yeah, with the kind of stuff you tell someone so they don't feel bad they failed at something.”

“Jason you actually did fin-”

“I don't want participation trophies. Tell me what's your time.”

Dick sighs. He really, _really_ hopes Bruce won't give him more little siblings.

“0.8 seconds in and out in full Nightwing uniform, half that in civilian clothes.” He admits. Jason sucks a quick breath. Dick's worried he discouraged him when his brother stays silent, but when he looks at him he sees the kid's biting his pinky, looking like he's considering something, and Dick can't help but to grin a little.

“You use a different thing for shifting in and out, and it has something to do with your hands. You also have a harder time becoming a Rapier than becoming human, am I right?”

That snaps Jason out of whatever he was thinking, and he looks at Dick with eyes big as plates. “How did you know?!” He exclaims, and Dick's grin turns into a full on smile.

“You have a different time when you're becoming an object and when you're becoming a person. Also you move your hands when you change.” Jason nods. “So, what do you exactly do to trigger the change?”

“I, kind of…” Jason holds his hands up, palms upwards. “I imagine I'm holding something hard and cold when turning into a sword-”

“Rapier” Dick corrects.

“Whatever!” Jason punches him on the shoulder, he can't say he didn't deserve it.

“Ok, ok, and for going back to human?”

“Um.” Jason flushes and looks away. “I imagine I'm holding something really warm and fluffy.” He admits while making a grabbing motion.

Dick can't help it, he pinches one of the kid's cheeks.

“Jason that's adorable.”

“Shut up!”

Dick laughs holding his stomach. Jason glares at him the whole time as if planning his assassination.

“You're a dick.” The kid declares, as soon as Dick stops rolling on the floor.

“Well, that's what older brothers are for.” He defends while cleaning a tear from his eye. Jason frowns even further, if that's possible. And yet his face is red like an apple. Maybe having siblings isn't too bad.

“Ok, so.” Dick clear his throat. Jason's anger disappears as he sees they're going back to training “Can you shift imagining it with only one hand?”

“I don't know.” He shrugs.

“This time try using your right hand for shifting into an object and your left for changing back. You can imagine you're holding both objects at the same time, in fact, it's better if you do that.”

Jason nods and concentrates again. This time it takes more time as light, but the time he spends as a Rapier shortens to just two seconds.

“It took longer!” He pouts. Dick just smiled and tousles his hair.

“The changing phase took longer, but you were able to switch triggers faster as a blade, didn't you?”

“I… Hm.”

“If you do it with both hands you need to release the first mental image, and then make the other one.” He explains “Because you already went with both of them ready you got an easier time at turning from object to light. Although in exchange it's harder to shift using only one hand.”

Jason nods.

“Anyway, for now let's just concentrate on thinking different ways to trigger it and see how it goes.” Dick says. “Now try imagining you have four arms…”

 

They expend some hours like that, trying different methods. At first Dick's the only one giving suggestions for stuff to try out, but after a while Jason starts to think on his own experiments.

It takes them around two hours to conclude the best way on the long run would be for him to shift imagining he's holding different objects in each hand, just like Dick suspected at the begging, but they also discover it's a lot easier for him if he imagines concrete objects instead of just an abstract hard and soft ball of something.

Dick brings some materials that might help to visualize: a ball of cotton, a piece of steel, and then the rest of the session continues between Jason holding the objects and trying to familiarize further with the sensation, and actually putting it into practice shifting back and forth. There isn't a significant improvement to his time, but Dick wasn't expecting it to take just one day.

Jason seems a bit down when training for a while doesn't make a significant difference on his record time, but Dick assures him today's session was supposed to be just to test out how shifting works for him and, surprisingly, Jason seems to believe him this time.

“We should take a break.” Dick says around midday, looking at the clock.

“Ok” Jason agrees as he stands up. He loses his balance for a second and almost falls, but Dick catches him. The kid must be dizzy, shifting like he's been doing can be disorientating.

“Actually how about we finish for today?” Dick offers. Jason seems like he's going to argue but he doesn't let him. “I can see you're already getting tired. Sit down and I can cook something.”

“Nah, I will just return to the manor already. You can't cook.” Jason accuses as he starts to put the rest of his uniform again. Dick gasps and brings one hand to his chest. “Drama queen.” The kid rolls his eyes.

“For your information, I'm actually good at cooking.” Dick defends, even as he handles Jason a glove.

“Whatever sails your boat.”

“At least let me bring you some water and another granola bar.” Dick tells him. “Sit down five minutes, I can't let you go out to run on rooftops while light headed.”

“I'm fine, it was just a momentary thing.” He argues, but sits down anyway.

Because he's on a good mood, Dick actually decides to give the kid one of the bars with chocolate chips. He makes sure he eats it without just crumbling it inside his mouth and that he drinks a whole bottle of water. And only when he's sure the kid isn't going to trip and die outside lets him go.

“Keep practicing improving your time. When you get to five seconds total we can move to the next thing.”

Jason smiles “Do you think if I get really good at turning into a sword-”

“Rapier.”

“If you keep that up I'm gonna start calling myself The Long Kitchen Knife.”

“Ok, sorry” Dick raises his hands in surrender.

“Anyway… Do you think Bruce will let me shift as Robin if I get really good at it?”

 _Not likely_ is what Dick thinks, but he doesn't want to ruin the kid's mood, so he just answers a neutral “We will have to see.”

“Anyway.” Jason says, one foot outside Dick's window. “It has been… Surprisingly fun. Bye bye Dick!” He waves, then throws a line and the kid's gone. Dick closes the window after him.

Somehow, he thinks he has the energy to cook now. So he goes to the kitchen and turns on the stove before he can back down.

Some time later, while eating a mouthful of eggs with ham Dick thinks that, just maybe, having a little brother isn't that bad. Actually, it's pretty awesome.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I feed of comments and I will die if you don't leave any. Please. I'm BEGGING YOU. Please PLEASE tell me what you thought of this story or I will **DIE**
> 
> Also friendly reminder I accept requests and prompts in my Tumblr. You can also leave there requests, prompts or just questions abt this au if you wanna


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